


Big and Strong

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Little Hiccup, Pneumonia, Sickfic, Sickness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 05:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Written for a request on tumblr.Nine year old Hiccup comes down with pneumonia, and it leaves everyone questioning his strength.





	Big and Strong

There was an itch building in Hiccup’s throat. He struggled not to cough, as it was the middle of the night and he didn’t want to wake his father, who was sleeping down below. Stoick was never happy to be woken in the middle of the night.

Hiccup couldn’t hold it in forever though, and ended up coughing anyway, though he muffled it in his small hand. Hopefully it had been quiet. It was hard to tell when everything around him was pitch black and silent. He should have been sleeping, and he felt like he was tired down to the bone, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He kept being wracked by violent chills, and his multitude of blankets didn’t seem to be helping. He was getting sick and he knew it, but he would have to wait till the morning to tell his dad. Hopefully he wouldn’t tell him to just suck it up. Hiccup didn’t think it was fair when he did that. He was only nine! Wasn’t he allowed to rest now and again when he wasn’t feeling well?

Hiccup coughed again, covering his mouth with both hands, determined not to wake Stoick. He closed his eyes and rolled over, hoping that maybe he could just try to sleep, but the chills hit him again, and he couldn’t seem to stop shivering. It was a long while before Hiccup finally fell into sleep, and when he did, his chest was aching, and he didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but it felt a little harder to breathe.

  
  


“Hiccup, breakfast!” Stoick called as he set the table. He waited for a moment or two, expecting to hear his son rising from bed, but nothing of the sort happened. 

_ Maybe he just needs a little more sleep _ , Stoick considered. Hiccup had been getting more tired out helping Gobber in the forge, as the work was still rather new to him and he wasn’t used to it quite yet. He had had complaints about it at first, but he seemed to enjoy most of his time with Gobber, which was good. 

Stoick began to eat, waiting a few more minutes, and then called up to him again. Still no response.

With a sigh, Stoick stood and ascended the stairs, the wood creaking under his weight. He found Hiccup huddled under a mound of blankets.

“Come on, son. Time to get up.” He went over, shook him gently, (or, as gently as he could,) but Hiccup didn’t respond. That was odd. He wasn’t usually such a heavy sleeper. He shook him again, and still nothing. Concern twisted in Stoick’s gut. Something was wrong.

His first instinct was to pull some of the blankets off in order to roll Hiccup carefully onto his back. His small face was awfully pale, and when Stoick put a hand on his forehead to check for a fever, he was burning up.

  
  


“Gothi says it’s pneumonia,” Gobber announced as he came down the stairs. He was one of the only people on Berk who could understand the sage’s cryptic writing and hand signals, so it had made sense for Stoick to call him here. Besides, he was Stoick’s best friend, and practically a second father to Hiccup. Even if he didn’t understand Gothi he’d ask for him to be here.

“Is he going to be alright?” Stoick asked, directing his question at Gothi as she slowly followed behind Gobber.

Gothi only answered once she’d comfortably reached the bottom floor, nodding and patting the satchel she had with her, her way of saying that she’d take care of him.

“Yeah,” Gobber responded. “She woke up Hiccup to give him something. She says it’s okay if he doesn’t eat much for now, but he needs a lot of water and rest.”

Speaking of Hiccup being awake, Stoick could hear him coughing now. He wondered if maybe that had started last night. He’d seen this illness before and that was usually one of the earliest symptoms. Why hadn’t he heard it? Though, he figured that it was his own fault that Hiccup hadn’t come to get him. He didn’t react well to being woken in the middle of the night.

After Gothi gave Stoick instructions and left him with the required herbs, she left. Gobber sat down, and Stoick went to bring Hiccup some water.

  
  


It hurt Hiccup’s entire body to sit up, but he was grateful for the cup of water in his hands and the cool liquid soothing his sore and scratchy throat. He felt worse than he had in the middle of the night, was barely able to think straight, but Gothi had made him eat some horrible-tasting herb, so that meant he was going to get better. How’d his dad know he was sick though? He didn’t remember him coming up the stairs to check on him. Maybe he’d woken him with his coughing.

Now guessing that he must have, Hiccup felt slightly guilty. Well, he felt guilty for being sick anyway. Being sick was weak. He was supposed to be a Viking, and Vikings weren’t weak!

Hiccup tried to speak once he finished the water, but he couldn’t hope to get his voice out until he was lying down. He wanted to keep his eyes open but they closed anyway. 

“Sorry, dad,” he rasped out. He felt the cup being taken from his hand. His father’s hands were so  _ large _ . Was Hiccup ever going to get that big? Or would he just stay small and weak forever?

“Sorry? For what?”

It hurt to draw in a deep breath and there was a wheeze in his chest when he did it, but Hiccup had to in order to get a full sentence out. “Feel bad for being sick.”

Stoick drew the blankets back over him, and Hiccup was grateful for that. His dad wasn’t always the most nurturing person in the world, but right now he seemed to be doing just fine with it.

“Hiccup, it’s not your fault.”

“If I wasn’t so small-”

“Not your fault either,” Stoick cut him off. “You’re young. You’ll be big and strong one day.”

“Well, what if I’m not?”

Hiccup waited, but there was no response from Stoick. He very gently put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Doesn’t matter right now, son. Just get some rest.”

Hiccup was going to give a response to that, but he was already drifting off before his dad even left his room.

  
  


Stoick felt bad that he hadn’t answered Hiccup’s question, but he hadn’t known how to respond to that. What  _ if  _ Hiccup didn’t grow any stronger? Living on Berk was tough, and he wasn’t always going to be around to help and protect him. He’d need to have his own strength.

“What’s the matter?” Gobber asked once he sat at the table across from him, clearly sensing his dour mood.

“He’s so small, Gobber,” Stoick answered. “You think he’ll get much bigger? Or stronger?”

“He’s only nine, Stoick,” his friend told him. “Give it time. Besides, it’s to be expected since he was born early.”

“I know. I just worry about him.”

Gobber waved his hook dismissively. “Ah, Hiccup may be small, but he’s as stubborn as they come, maybe more so. He’ll get through this.”

“And then what after that? What if he just… never fits in?” Stoick questioned. “He has no friends. How’s he going to make it work as chief? Who’s going to take him seriously?”

“You’re thinking way too far ahead into the future.”

“I kind of have to.”

“Not the point.” Gobber put a hand on the table. “Look, he may not be the strongest one out there or the biggest one, but he’s got a mind sharper than my hook and a will tougher than iron. He’ll be fine.” He gestured to the loft where Hiccup was probably asleep already. “And when he gets better from this he’ll go back to being normal old Hiccup.”

“But normal Hiccup isn’t what Berk needs,” Stoick argued, trying to defend his point. His tribe needed someone strong and capable, someone able to work and fight with the rest of them, and so far, Hiccup wasn’t shaping up to be that someone.

Gobber shrugged. “Maybe not right now, but in the future it could be. Give it five years or so. I’m sure Hiccup will end up doing something to blow all our socks off, and maybe he doesn’t have to be our definition of big and strong to do it. Just you wait and see.”


End file.
